Finding Something to Say

 

I was asked to preach about Spirituality, so I sat down to type up a sermon --- but nothing was coming.  All the ideas for a sermon that I had when I volunteered suddenly ran away and I was left with nothing spiritual to say.

 I was stumped. 

After all, who am I to be telling anyone else about Spirituality?   But it had to be done.

 So I was a bit Grumpy. 

I have days like that. Weeks, even. 

I think we all do.

Times when nothing seems to be going together the way we would like them to.

And I don't always handle it gracefully. 

My Mother used to tell me that the best thing to do under those circumstances is to change the subject. 

Changing the subject of your life can be tricky.  But I had to give it a shot.  Instead of sitting and wollowing in my ineptitudes, I looked out the window at the dark gray sky.

 I remembered the other day I was feeling very depressed on my way to work. That was a gray day, too. As I walked, I was working up a really good feeling-sorry-for-myself.

I was listing the many reasons I had for thinking I was being put-upon.

Imagine! Having to work for a living! Why couldn't I just be rich?

Nobody understood me anyway. Poor Me!

My mood was a dark as the sky.

Then I remembered that I liked Gray days, better than Sunny ones.

 It took all the wind out of my sails and I had to laugh at me.  Sometimes, you just can't take yourself too seriously, it takes far too much effort. 

The cats at my feet were becoming militant about food and protested loudly that they were being tortured beyond all reason, so I got up and fed them.   

Then Tammer, my twelve-year-old cat, crawled into my lap. She was warm and furry and purring. She settled down into a comfortable huddle and proceeded to gently clean the reminents of dinner from her beautiful face. Then she looked up adoringly and blinked at me before she purred herself to sleep.

 How can anyone, even a grump like me, stay irritated with that going on? 

So I looked out the window again and saw how beautiful the bare tree branches were against the dark gray sky.

 Who was I to talk of anything Spiritual? Who are any of us? 

I'll tell you who we are.

We are people who have lived and loved and learned.

We are people who don't know all the answers, but might have a clue as to a few of the questions.

 We have made mistakes, and sometimes we have learned from them, sometimes not.

 If we share our hopes, strengths and experiences, we just might find a friend along the way, and maybe even an answer or two. 

I don't believe that insight is given only to a few. I believe that all have access.

 So it's not my job, as sermon-giver, friend, or artist, to have all the answers.

 It's my job to share, my weaknesses as well as my strengths.

 I have heard it said that each of us has a light within us, a light that shines forth who we are, a light that can show the way to another.

I believe that.

I believe that we each have part of it, a piece of the puzzle, so to speak. And that together, we can see clearly what a beautiful world we can make. 

As I type these words, I am aware that not all the world is peaceful, that war is reality for a lot of good people.  I pray for all on both sides, for we are all the children of the universe. As children of the universe, or of God (however you want to say it), we are siblings to one another. We are, quite litterally, all brothers and sisters to one another. We dim our lights when we give in to hate. 

Thinking on these things, my own troubles seemed small. I was humbled by my own good fortune.

The cat in my lap stretched and a burst of purr came from her as she sank back into sleep.  As I looked at her, I thought, "Maybe that is my calling in life, to be a cat lap.   Maybe providing for her is my true purpose." 

I do not pretend to know the mind (or the priorities) of God.

 When I preach, I always end every service with the same blessing which I would like to share with you: 

Let your light so shine that all may see, and rejoice that you are. 

So Be It.